Osaka; the kitchen of Japan

We didn't really get to explore outside of Tokyo last time we visited Japan, so this time we were determined to add a slew of new destinations to our list.

Our first stop was in Osaka; but first, an early breakfast at Sukiya.



After making our way to Tokyo Station through the end of the rush hour craze, exchanging my pass and booking our tickets, we headed to an even-crazier Ekibenya for bentos for our long ride.






For our longest journey, we were seated separately with strangers, but my seatmates left throughout the journey, and I ended up having access to both the electrical plug and the window seat.




We arrived at our tatami-style hostel in Osaka, gleefully rid ourselves of our luggage, and headed into the city.




The streets got busier as we headed towards Dōtonbori area.







We had originally planned to just stop by the area to see the sights, but we got pulled in by several interesting shops and managed to spend a few hours shopping... oops.





After tiring ourselves out from shopping, we decided to get some snacks to tide us over until dinner time. Takoyaki and gyoza commenced.










Katsukushi for dinner!






I really loved wandering the streets of Osaka; there was so much to see, and some of the decorations made me laugh.







A trip to Japan is not complete without meeting cats near a shrine.




We found some more cool shops to browse, including magazines and books wrapping hats, bags, some newly-released CDs, and the most adorably expensive coasters that we decided to say no to.






It began to rain heavily, so we decided to grab some ice cream at a convenience store before calling it a night.